Webber keen to stay at Red Bull in 2012

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner says that Mark Webber wants to remain with his team in 2012 and that a deal could be struck soon.

The Australian, who finished third in last year’s world championship, has been on a year-by-year contract at RBR since 2009, and Horner says that Webber has indicated that he’s like to extend his career in F1 with the champion team.

“Mark has made it clear that he wants to drive next year, and conversations with Mark tend to be quite straightforward,” he said.

“As far as the future is concerned we agree to take things one step at a time and at the appropriate time we will sit down and talk about the future.

“There are obviously several factors, but at the end of the day it is down to the team and Mark to decide if they want to continue that relationship, and we just wanted to see whether he has still got the motivation and desire that he clearly has.

“He has had these issues with the tyres that he is working hard to get on top of, but we are very happy with him in the team.”

Webber currently sits third in the championship, 51 points behind his team-mate and title leader Sebastian Vettel.